Abstract
Pollen morphology of 24 of the 33 species of three Bomareasubgenera, Baccata, Sphaerine, andWichuraea, was examined by light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), or SEM alone. The studied species ofBomarea were stenopalynous, characterized by large, monosulcate monads with reticulate exine sculpture in most species. Opercula-like structures were present on the sulcus in B.huanucoand B.involucrosa. Differences in pollen size, exine thickness, and exine sculpture were observed. The studied taxa were divided into four major groups based on exine ornamentation observed under SEM: microreticulate, reticulate, coarsely rugulate, or finely rugulate-perforate. Pollen characters alone did not appear to correlate clearly with the current subgeneric classification of Bomarea, but they may have some taxonomic utility below the subgeneric level. The most reliable infrageneric classification of Bomarea can be achieved through combined analyses of morphological, palynological, and molecular data from larger samples of specimens of all the species.
Highlights
Bomarea is the most diverse genus of Alstroemeriaceae, with 100–120 species (Neuendrof 1977; Alzate 2005) distributed primarily in the Andean and Austroamerican regions, but found from Mexico and the Caribbean to Chile and Argentina (Sanso & Xifreda 1995)
Three clades within Bomarea have been identified by Alzate et al (2008), using the genomic regions nrDNA ITS, psbA-trnH, rpoB-trnC, and matK, which conflicts with the traditional subgeneric classification of Bomarea based on morphology and biogeography
We present pollen morphological features of three subgenera, viz. Baccata, Sphaerine, and Wichuraea, of the genus Bomarea to search for new characters that could add information pertinent to infrageneric classification of this genus
Summary
Bomarea is the most diverse genus of Alstroemeriaceae, with 100–120 species (Neuendrof 1977; Alzate 2005) distributed primarily in the Andean and Austroamerican regions, but found from Mexico and the Caribbean to Chile and Argentina (Sanso & Xifreda 1995). The circumscription and taxonomic relationships between the two largest and closely related genera of the family Alstroemeriaceae, Alstroemeria and Bomarea, have been controversial, as some species have been published under both generic names with different epithets (Sanso & Xifreda 1995; Hofreiter & Tillich 2002). The subgeneric circumscriptions of Baccata (Hofreiter 2008), Sphaerine (Hofreiter 2006), and Wichuraea (Hofreiter & Tillich 2003) have been revised. Three clades within Bomarea have been identified by Alzate et al (2008), using the genomic regions nrDNA ITS, psbA-trnH, rpoB-trnC, and matK, which conflicts with the traditional subgeneric classification of Bomarea based on morphology and biogeography
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